Magna to supply Lyft with kits to make self-driving autos

MAGNA ELECTRO CASTINGS

15/03/2018 14:55

MONTREAL, March 15 (Reuters) - Magna International Inc
 MG.TO  said on Thursday it will supply Lyft with high-tech kits
to turn vehicles into self-driving cars, but will not
manufacture autos for the ride-hailing service. 
    Magna shares rose more than 4 percent in early trade as
executives described the auto supplier's role in a new
autonomous venture with Lyft. The Canadian auto-parts supplier
said late on Wednesday that it would invest $200 million in Lyft
and work with the firm to co-develop self-driving cars.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1QW66I 
    “As we work with Lyft, hopefully that brings for us an
opportunity to potentially do more with Lyft as well as others
in this area,” Magna Chief Financial Officer Vince Galifi said
in a Thursday morning call with financial analysts. 
    The auto industry is looking for ways to profit from the
rise of car-sharing services like Lyft and bigger rival Uber,
which are expected to reduce vehicle sales and chip away at
future profits.
    Goldman Sachs has predicted that the ride-hailing market
will grow eightfold by 2030 to five times the current taxi
market.
    Several automakers, however, do not expect self-driving
vehicles to be in production before 2021.
    Lyft and Magna will jointly own intellectual property
developed through the new venture and Magna will be Lyft’s
exclusive supplier of self-driving car kits, Magna Chief
Technology Officer Swamy Kotagiri said. 
    Those kits - which are used to convert ordinary automobiles
into self-driving cars - include cameras, radar and lidar
systems that use light pulses to gauge a vehicle's position on
and near the road. The kits could also be sold to other parties
besides Lyft, Kotagiri said. 
    Revenues from the deal are not expected to be material in
the short term for Magna, Galifi said. 
    Over the longer-term, "the potential for revenues across the
entire industry is significant," he added.
    Galifi said the Lyft investment was already incorporated
into the company's 2018-2020 outlook.

 (Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal
Editing by Jim Finkle and Marguerita Choy)
 ((Allison.Lampert@thomsonreuters.com; 514-796-4212; Reuters
Messaging: allison.lampert.reuters.com@reuters.net))